Malala to undergo two more surgeries

BIRMINGHAM, England, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Doctors in Britain said they will replace part of the skull of Malala Yousufzai, the teenage Pakistani activist shot by the Taliban for promoting education.

Malala, 15, was shot in the head in October as she was returning home from school. Officials said she was targeted because she refused to back down from her campaign for girls' education in Pakistan.

She was flown to Britain and was receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. She was released from the hospital in early January to continue her recuperation at her family's temporary Midlands home with father Ziaddin, mother Toorpekai, and brothers, Khushal and Atul.

Doctors said Malala will undergo two reconstructive operations within the next 10 days, Sky News reported Wednesday.

Malala was shot point-blank at her left brow. The bullet did not enter her skull, but traveled underneath the skin, down the length of her head and into her shoulder. The force of the bullet shattered part of her skull and damaged soft tissue in her jaw and neck. Her left eardrum was also destroyed, Sky News reported.

Doctors said they will replace a missing area of skull in Malala's head with a 0.66 millimeter titanium plate. The metal plate was moulded from a 3D model of the teen's head using a CT image, Sky News said.

Another surgery will implant an electronic hearing device into Malala's head so she may regain hearing in her left ear.

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